Information Technology (IT) is a core function for any business. To be effective though, expertise, strategy and security are vital.
As a business owner, it’s easy to overlook IT outsourcing opportunities and attempt to take on all the work yourself. But it’s far from practical. Running a business is hard work and time-consuming. Thus, it pays to invest in resources to make things as manageable as possible.
The most successful business owners know when to take a step back and delegate work to the experts. And professional IT support is a complex service that’s becoming increasingly difficult to handle. You want to be confident that this core function of your business is carried out properly.
Here are a few reasons why it might be better for your business to outsource your IT, rather than tackling it internally.
1. Access to Quality Expertise
IT may not be your core competency but it is someone else’s. Through outsourcing your IT, you have access to quality expertise and the latest technology to benefit your business.
This information is invaluable to ensure your business can run as a relatively smooth operation all year round. If you’re not trained in IT (or have limited training) how can you assure your business’ IT support is properly managed?
IT service companies deal with the same sort of problems on a regular basis – so they understand them. What may take you a few hours to fix, a qualified IT expert could do in half the time – saving you valuable time and resources.
2. Share the Risk Burden
Compliance and security are a big deal with it comes to running a business and IT support needs both ingredients to benefit your operations properly. You wouldn’t have just anyone manage your business, so don’t leave important tasks for just anyone to look after.
One of the biggest reasons why outsourcing IT is good is you get to share the risk burden. Security breaches and issues are all too common with IT, so you want to offload some of the infrastructural risks to someone who is better equipped to handle them.
Making the wrong decision can also be extremely costly to your business. When you outsource to a quality IT provider, you’re paying for a solid base of experience that will assist you in making the right technical decisions. This keeps your business as protected as possible and helps to reduce the risk of data loss and other data breach issues.
By sharing the risk burden, you minimise the risk of downtime too, with access to the latest technology, backups and recovery procedures should devices fail. Such technologies are better implemented by IT experts who can bring years of experience to the table. They’ll also ensure everything is up-to-date.
No more forgetting to check the firewall and audit your servers – these vital components of running a business can be outsourced instead.
3. Re-Focus Your Priorities
Businesses have shoestring budgets and limited resources, and our brains have limited time and attention to tackle everything! Outsourcing your IT can be a practical way to free things up and shifts your focus back to the core business – where it belongs.
The last thing any successful business needs is to be distracted from what they do best. And when you’re caught up dealing with IT on a regular basis or battling hair-pulling IT issues, your focus certainly isn’t on the bigger picture.
When your focus isn’t on the core strategy of your business, day-to-day operations can easily fall in a heap. Important tasks get pushed the backburner and let’s face it, no one wants to spend hours troubleshooting software, hardware and user issues when there’s bigger fish to fry.
4. Reduced Business Spending
There's a common misconception that outsourcing IT is expensive.
Quality is key and the saying you get what you pay for is generally correct, but outsourcing is actually a very cost-effective tool.
Savings are significant for businesses – especially if you’re only small, so finding ways to reduce expenditure is always a priority.
Multiple studies have shown that outsourcing IT services saves you money. Businesses wouldn’t do it if the costs weren’t lower and the quality of service wasn’t jeopardised.
Outsourcing also makes costs predictable, which means you’re in a better position to budget resources accordingly.
Managed IT support is a contract with fixed monthly charges which includes regular maintenance and everyday fixes to hardware, computer software or network devices. And because outsourcing IT companies will usually charge less for support than a business would pay a provider directly, the savings are beneficial.
IT companies can also offer access to related services and tech equipment at lower costs for your business to take advantage of too.
5. Levels the Playing Field
If you want to give your business a competitive edge, investing in outsourced IT services can help.
There’s no denying that small business struggle to match the in-house support large corporations maintain. Outsourcing provides business owners with a cost-effective way to keep up with key players in the field. It’s effective in helping you to grow and nurture your small business without the big guys in the industry posing as a threat.
As a result, small businesses can act “big” with access to similar technology and the IT benefits larger corporations have.
So, why you should outsource your IT?
Outsourcing comes with greater flexibility, reduces costs, boosts staff morale and improves overall business ROI.
For all your managed IT support needs, speak to one of our experienced staff for more information.
